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 IN February this year 20-year-old Barry tennis star Rebecca Llewellyn hit a career high of 331 in the world rankings after reaching the semi-finals in Tipton and Jersey events, followed by qualification for a Sunderland satellite tournament in which she had to withdraw in the last 16.
Then, after a month's rest when her ranking fell, Llewellyn returned to the court in Canary Island qualifiers last month before making the semi-final in Bath, where she lost in three sets to Valerie Tetreault of Canada.
Now ranked at 345 in the world, Llewellyn will already have one eye on making it into the draw for Wimbledon, for a second time.
Making her All England debut in 2005, Llewellyn had the honour of facing the US Open champion - Russian fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova - in the first round.
And her Wimbledon dream lasted just 42 minutes as the Russian romped to a crushing 6-0 6-1 victory.
The 19-year-old former Llandaff Cathedral School pupil admitted her experience on court 18 of the All England club was something of a wake-up call.
"I was a little bit taken aback to be honest," she said. "I didn't actually realise the levels of the top players was that good.
"I've been practising with people who are sort of 150 in the world, and I've felt OK and not been overpowered. But I've never faced anything like that.
"The difference between the top 100 in the world, then the top 50 and the top 10 is astronomical.
"I caught her on a good day, but even on a bad day I still think I'd have been pretty scared."
But the philosophical Welsh girl still looked on the positives rather than dwelling on the negatives.
"It's good experience for when I go back to the Challengers and Futures Tours I'll be able to put what I've been through to good use," she said.
Llewellyn says she is a big fan of Monica Seles because of her attitude and desire to win.
The mere fact Llewellyn made it to Wimbledon last year at all in many ways vindicates a decision she made in 2003.
Nagged by niggling injuries and disappointed with her form, the right-hander went North to Wrexham to work with Mike Walker at the North Wales Regional Tennis Centre.
The two had first met when Llewellyn was a pupil at Llandaff Cathedral School, playing short tennis, and had kept in touch since.
"He always said that if ever I wanted to, the offer was there to come up to Wrexham and work with him," Llewellyn said. "In 2003, it had got to the point where it wasn't going well. I'd been injured and results weren't good. That's when I chose to break away."
The youngest of four, Rebecca, started playing tennis when she was seven or eight.
"My dad, David, was quite sporty and played rugby as a youngster, then squash," she said. "My brother Mike is two years older than me and played tennis at county level.
"I was always really interested in all sport. I started playing tennis at school then got spotted by scouts. I trained at Barry Athletic Tennis Club for a bit then at the National Tennis Centre on Ocean Way and out in Cyncoed Tennis Club and Radyr Lawn Tennis Club."
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